Driver parks his untaxed Mercedes yards from Northamptonshire Police traffic post

Police are used to high speed pursuits on the M1 .. but found this offender literally parked on their doorstep.

An unwitting Mercedes driver stopped his untaxed vehicle in the southbound services at Junction 15A without realising he was just a few yards away from where traffic cops park when they're not busy chasing the bad guys.

A spokesman for Northants Serious Collision Investigation Unit admitted: "It's possibly not the brightest place to leave an untaxed car ... right outside a Northants Police traffic post."

The vehicle was one of those spotted on a busy day for the tow trucks with untaxed vehicles also seized in Greatmeadow Road, Northampton, and Minerva Way, Wellingborough.

Earlier this year, we revealed Northampton ranks 17th in the UK list of areas where more motorists try to dodge paying road tax. Official figures showed a total of 18.729 of enforcement notices issued to addresses in the town during 2019.

DVLA's Tax It Or Lose It campaign targets those who take a chance on not taxing their vehicle, focusing on the consequences of breaking the law from penalties and fines to clamping, and having vehicles seized

Northamptonshire Police regularly use social media posts to highlight untaxed vehicles being taken off the road.

DVLA chief executive Julie Lennard said: "The number of untaxed vehicles on the road is falling, but we are determined to reduce this even further.

"We operate a range of measures to make vehicle tax easy to pay and hard to avoid, so there really is no excuse if you fail to tax your vehicle.

"While the vast majority of motorists do the right thing and tax correctly, this campaign highlights the real consequences that motorists face if they don’t tax their vehicles.

Failure to tax a vehicle can escalate to a fine of £1,000 for motorists who ignore penalties and the case goes to court and the DVLA has powers to clamp and seize cars until the correct amount is paid.

Once your vehicle is clamped or seized, the costs start spiraling: £100 for a release rising to £200 after 24 hours plus a £21-per-day storage fee.